Shadow's Tail: A Dark Hero

It was his second time visiting Equestria, and his first day in Ponyville. Shadow sat quietly at the café table in solitude, his waiter shakily trying to set Shadow’s drink in front of him. The waiter zipped away as soon as the tray hit the table. It was perfect, extra sweetened coffee, perfect amount of light to look around, and most importantly, he was by himself. Shadow was not like these Ponies, he preferred being alone and watching. He knew they hadn’t changed since his last time here. They all spouted peace and friendship, but none of them accepted him. He put his dragon-like claws around the cup and lifted it to his nose, “Dark roast, coarsely ground, and ten tablespoons of sweetener. Perfect.” He pulled a flask from his black hoodie’s pocket and poured the contents into the cup. He then proceeded to put the steaming cup to his mouth, gulping every drop.

As soon as his cup hit the table, a somewhat nervous voice broke his absolute silence, “E-excuse me. Are you Shadow?” He turned around to face a purple Unicorn with a small dragon riding on her back. She was…. beautiful, but a Pony nonetheless.

Shadow‘s face was expressionless, “Yes. Yes I am, and I have a question in return.” Shadow pulled off his hood and pointed his slender, black, pointy tail at her, “Who are you? And why are you here?” Shadow’s words came out annoyed and harsh, but the Unicorn seemed more put off by Shadows appearance. She knew Drakonians had fuzzy dragon-like claws and odd scaly tails, but she couldn’t help but stare. His long blue hair blew in the wind, his brown fur glistened in the sun, and his blue eyes drew the attention of everyone who looked at him. She was drawn in by a spot of brown in what would be his left eye. For a moment she thought time stood still, but when Shadow snapped his claws in front of her face she was awoken from her trance.

She stumbled on her words, but managed to speak understandably, “Princess Celestia asked me to check on you, and make sure that our Drakonian guest was doing fine. I'm sorry if I interrupted you.”

Her apology sounded truly heartfelt, but that didn’t matter to Shadow. She needed to learn her place, “As you should be. I do not need to be checked upon by the errand Pony of Celestia.”

“Hey, stop being so rude to her!” The little dragon on her back finally piped in. “Twilight hasn’t done anything wrong! So far the only one who should be sorry is YOU!” Shadow took pause. No one from Equestria has ever spoken to him in such a manner since he was a child. They were always too afraid.

“SPIKE!” The purple Unicorn silenced the dragon with a stern look. “I'm truly sorry for his outburst.”

Shadow gave an almost unnoticeable grin, and his tone lightened, “Oh, not at all, I've never had anyone in this spineless kingdom stand up to me, well, not in a little over a… very long time, but that’s not the point.” He pointed his claws to the dragon, “You there. What is your name?”

Again, the Unicorn looked shocked, but the dragon barked back, “My name is Spike, and this is Twilight, faithful student to Celestia, not her errand Pony.”

Again, Spike was treating Shadow like the jerk he was. “You know what Spike, I like you. I do believe you and I will become good friends. I'm not so sure about the spineless Unicorn though.” He gave an annoyed look at the Unicorn before she stormed off, dragon on her back. As Shadow sat alone once again, he could feel in the air, things are finally going to change, and he wasn’t sure if he liked that.

Shadow headed home, and spent the rest of the evening preparing for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. He cut and styled his blue hair, so that the front was long enough to end just above his eyes, and the back to end at the base of his neck. He took off his hoodie and stared into the mirror. His wing bindings were loose since he had his hoodie on, so he tightened them down hard for his suit. He then put on the suit the king had sent him for events such as this. It was your standard maroon prince dress jacket with golden accents and black pants. He stood in front of the mirror and adjusted it with his hands and tail. The suit hid his wings well, and he didn’t have to worry about his two stubby horns poking out from his hair. They were too short to show no matter how he wore his mane. He looked into his baby blue eyes. “Now if only there was a way to remove you.” He looked at the brown spot in the right corner of his left eye, and let out a heavy sigh, “Well, closer to perfect than any of those Ponies can get. I suppose it is good enough.” At that moment there was knocking on his chamber doors. “What is it Tidy?”

An old, brownish-grey, Drakonian opened the oak doors to Shadow’s chaotically messy room. “You seem to have an invitation to some sort of housewarming party.” His hair and mustache had turned white with age, and the mustache moved as he talked so you couldn’t quite see his mouth. He had two small horns poking from his combed hair. The only thing about him that wasn’t antique was his new, black, butler uniform and golden monocle.

Shadow turned and eyed Tidy, “Shouldn’t butlers ask before entering?”

Tidy chuckled before retorting with, “I helped change your diapers. I think I can enter of my own volition.” Shadow knew he was right. Tidy was really the closest thing to family he had left.

“That may be true, but…..” Shadow had nothing, so he shouted angrily, “Just give me the damn letter.” Tidy chuckled as he handed the letter to the grumpy Shadow. “Let's see. Yada yada yada, surprise party, yada yada yada, library, yada yada yada, Twilight.” Shadow thought back to his encounter with her and sighed, “Yeah I’ll go. Not for the spineless horse, but for that dragon, Spike.” Shadow finished the adjustments and headed to his Library for a housewarming gift.

Shadow had no clue what she liked or wanted, so he simply brought his biggest book “The Complete History of Drakonia.” He just knew she would love it. Who doesn’t love Drakonians? He walked through the forest surrounding what he called a manor. In actuality it was the size of a small castle. He walked through town slightly upset since his suite wasn’t tailored to his measurements. The neck was too tight, the midsection was to loose, and he had to roll his front and hide sleeves up so it wouldn’t drag in the dirt. He saw the large treehouse mentioned in the letter, “Who would ever want a house built into a tree? Whatever.” He approached its large doors and knocked. An odd, bright-pink Pony opened the door, looked around, and then dragged him into the dark house. Weird, there was no shock or fear, she just dragged him in. They all sat in the quiet darkness, but that was nothing for Shadow’s cat-like vision. Shadow spotted the gift table, and threw the book towards it. He heard it land on top with a soft “Thunk,” and looked around for the snack bar, hoping it would be loaded with barbecue or some other kind of meat.

But before he could find it, the door opened. With a flash of light, everyone, including Shadow, yelled “SURPRISE!” With the lights on Twilight wasn’t the only one gasping. There were several conversations going on around him, and probably about him, but he finally spotted the snack table, and made his way over to it. He didn’t see any meat, so he settled for the Chips N’ Dip. Eventually Twilight walked over and, unknowingly, began pouring hot sauce into a cup. Shadow decided it might be the right time to warn her, “You might not.”

He was cut off by Twilight, “Might not what?!” She was finally showing some spine, so Shadow watched her. He was silent and expressionless, as she chugged the hot sauce, and then ran screaming to her room.

Shadow shook his head, “I tried warning her. Oh well,” and went back to eating. After eating most of the Chips N’ Dip, Shadow walked over to the punch bowl and poured a cup for himself. Just as he raised it to his mouth, someone bumped into him and spilled the punch all over his suit. Shadow crushed the plastic cup in his claws and turned to face the cowering, yellow, Pegasus. He tried keeping his voice low so only she could hear him, but he was quite angry, “What is wrong with you, you clumsy idiot!”

The yellow Pegasus cowered and in a hushed voice squeaked out “I'm sorry.”

She was spineless, just like the rest of them. Shadow stared down at her angrily, “You had better be!”

Just as Shadow was about to verbally, tear this Pegasus new one, a new blue Pegasus swooped down in between them, “Why don’t you pick on somepony your own size?!”

Shadow butted heads with her, but she pushed back with equal force. “Listen, Blue, your friend here made me spill punch on my suit, so this is our problem. Not yours. Back off.” With that, Shadow slid to the side so that she went crashing into the ground, and turned his attention back to the yellow one. She was quivering, and on the verge of tears. For some reason, Shadow couldn’t bring himself to yell at her.

Shadow’s anger faded and he turned around just as Blue got in his face again, “Listen here!”

Shadow put a single claw on Blue’s mouth to silence her and calmly said, “You two aren’t worth my time. I need to get a new suit before the celebration, so why don’t you pick up the coward and leave me be.” He put his hand down and walked past them.

As he waded through the crowd toward the door, an elegant voice piped up. “Pardon me, but I heard you were in need of a new suit, and I thought I should offer my services.”

Shadow turned to face a white Unicorn that had a beautiful, yet questionably impossible, mane, “Really? Exactly what kind of service would that be?”

The Unicorn spoke with a smile, “Making you look fabulous, darling. It would be completely complimentary, of course.”

Shadow eyed her. Why would she just offer up her services for free? She did have a nice dress on, so he thought maybe she knew what she was doing. He accepted her offer and followed her to a beautiful boutique, which she claimed to be hers. The interior was impressive and he could see many finely crafted dresses hanging from racks lining the walls. The white Unicorn ushered him to a stand in front of several mirrors, “I’ll need you to remove your suit for this.”

Shadow grimaced; he didn’t want anyone knowing about his wings, or even worse, seeing his Destiny Mark. He turned to her with his blank face, “If you are as fine a craftswoman as you say you are, then you should be able to get my measurements even if I am clothed in this terrible suit.”

The Unicorn grinned slyly, “What’s the matter? Don’t want me to see you exposed? I suppose we can do it your way though. I like a challenge.”

Shadow held back a grin, and began thinking to himself, “That was almost too easy.”

The Unicorn circled him, and then started walking to a desk on a nearby wall, “What’s your favorite color?”

Shadow thought for a moment, “I suppose if I had to choose, my favorite color would be black, or maybe gold.” The Unicorn glanced back at him and smiled, then took some black cloth from her desk and began sewing. Shadow stared into the mirror, completely spacing out. He thought of his true mission here. Sure the invitation was a great scapegoat for being here, but he wondered if anyone would know why he was really here. Rarity’s squeal of excitement broke his trance. She said nothing, but levitated a black suit with gold accents in front of him. “Is there a room where I can change in privacy?” Rarity nodded and pointed to her fitting rooms. When Shadow had entered, he stripped of his stained attire, and stared at the mirror for a moment. He thought of loosening the brace he had put around his wings, but decided he’d rather keep them concealed than feel comfortable. The new suit fit much better, and Shadow loved the color scheme. This one was made of silk, and looked far more fit for royalty than his previous suit. As he exited the fitting rooms, he saw the Unicorn had also changed into a very elegant dress, “Remarkable. I simply must know the name of such a fine clothier.”

The Unicorn blushed and flipped her hair, “My name is Rarity.”

Shadow’s raised an eyebrow, “Why exactly did you offer your services free of charge?”

With this, Rarity smiled, “I make it a point to know anypony who’s anypony, and that includes Drakonians.”

Shadow was a little worried, “Who am I then?”

Rarity smiled as she walked toward him, “Your name is Shadow. Princess Celestia personally invited you to the Summer Sun Celebration. I must say, I was happy you had your suit stained. It gave me a reason to introduce myself.”

Shadow looked stunned, “How did you find all this out?”

Rarity walked past him and opened the door, “The celebration will start soon, shall we depart?”

Shadow’s face returned to its normal blank expression, and walked next to Rarity, “Only if you go with me.”

Rarity held her smile, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I think you’re probably the first friend I’ve made in Equestria.” As they walked to the celebration, they made small talk, but there was only one thing on Shadow’s mind. He was no friend to Celestia. In fact, he hated her. He was hoping she wouldn’t see him; otherwise, he’d be forced to talk with her. They arrived to the celebration fashionably late, and took a spot in an opening near the middle of the floor. Shadow looked around at the decorations, “Beautiful.”

Rarity followed his gaze. “Thank you, darling. I did them all earlier.” Shadow looked impressed. His mind was drifting to where the nearest dessert table could be when the sound of startled gasps filled the room. Shadow looked around and saw many Ponies looking up at the balcony, so he followed their gaze. Atop the balcony stood a massive armored, black, Alicorn. She was giving some long boring speech, but Shadow couldn’t care less since it wasn’t about him.

When she finally stopped speaking most Ponies began running away. He stared angrily at the panicked crowd and mumbled to himself, “Great, more spineless Ponies.” When Shadow turned to Rarity, he finally realized there was no Rarity next to him. He wandered around the building for a bit, looking for her, but gave up and heading outside. As he began heading home he saw six Ponies heading to the forest, and he had seen all but two of them before. He ran toward them, wanting to find out why they were headed toward what was supposed to be the most dangerous forest in Equestria. He was finally a few steps behind them when he shouted, “Where are all of you headed?”

Simultaneously Twilight and Blue shouted back “None of your business!”

“Well that’s rude.” Shadow tried sounding hurt but it came out more sarcastic.

The odd, pink one spilled the beans immediately after, “We’re off to collect the Elements of harmony and defeat the evil Nightmare Moon and save Equestria from eternal night we’re headed to the old castle in the forest wanna come?” Twilight and Blue seemed a little upset at her after this.

“Yes. Yes I do.” Shadow took another step forward before Blue stopped him.

“AAAAnd why should we let you, of all things, come with us?” She looked very pissed.

“Well for starters my mansion is in the forest, I hunt there, I know where the castle you're probably looking for is, and I don’t know about any of you, but I was once a soldier. In other words, I could be an incredible asset to this team.”

The Ponies looked on in shocked silence for a moment before Twilight spoke up, “Do you really know where the old castle is?” Shadow nodded with his typical straight face. “Well then we have no choice girls, come on Shadow.”

Shadow began walking with the group for about a minute before asking, “So it seems as if everyone in this town who has any importance whatsoever knows my name, but I only know two of your names. I think as a teambuilding exercise we should all get to know each other. For those unimportant enough to know my name, I am Shadow.”

The first one to speak was the one he hadn’t met before, “Yer kinda fulla yerself, ain’tcha. Well mah name is Applejack. Me and mah family own Apple Acres down yonder.” Her thick country accent almost bothered Shadow, but knowing she ran an apple orchard more than made up for it.

Next was the odd, pink one, “And I'm Pinkie Pie! And I just know we’re going to be the bestest of friends. I mean I'm friends with everypony, so why not every Drakonian?” She was bouncing around, and smiling the widest smile Shadow had ever seen. He had no clue how she could say all that in one sentence, but he was impressed.

Finally, Blue spoke up, “And I'm Rainbow Dash, the best flyer in Equestria, probably Drakonia too. Actually, you know what, I am. No doubt about it.” Shadow found her cocky attitude kind of nice.

Yellow never spoke up, so Shadow was forced to ask, “Okay, so what’s the quiet one’s name?”

She put her head down and whispered, “Fluttershy.”

“I'm sorry, what was that?”

She lowered her head more, and whispered again even quieter than the first time, “Fluttershy.”

Shadow gave her a confused look before Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Her name is Fluttershy. She’s not very loud, but she has a knack with animals.” Shadow was annoyed with her lack of noise, but thought it was cute in a weird way.

Shadow rolled his eyes, “Great. There’s six of you, and combined you all have about half a spine.”

Applejack gave Shadow an angrily confused stare, “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

Shadow forced back a grin, “Two of you have spines, three don’t, and you get negative points because of Fluttershy.” He thought it was funny, but held his composure. He was holding back his grin and laughter so much he thought he was going to explode. Instead, the ground beneath his feet gave way.

Everything happened so fast. Shadow focused on jumping from rock to rock, but when he heard Applejack yelling, “Let go.” He took his eyes off the ground to check on them. Big mistake. He slid from atop his rock, and then there was darkness.

For a while, he only heard silence until finally a high-pitched Pinkie voice squeaked out, “Where’s Shadow?” Shadow was relieved, “Well at least no one’s dead.” He had somehow landed in a pocket amongst the boulders. He pushed up on the massive boulder trapping him with ease, and it rolled down the rest of the pile.

The first thing he heard after that was Rarity’s panicked scream, “It’s ruined!!!”

Shadow noticed her stare and looked down to his suit. His nice suit was torn in various places, but luckily, it was still intact enough to hide his wings and Destiny Mark. He however seemed virtually unscathed. Twilight stared in awe, “How are you alright?”

Shadow could feel a great lie coming on, “That’s easy. I’m Drakonian. We are superior in every aspect. That landslide was more fun than dangerous to me.” He looked down at them with a straight face, before hopping next to Twilight, “We are stronger, faster, smarter, more endearing.”

He was cut off by Rainbow Dash who had flown up to see where he had landed, “And total liars. There’s a hole in here that you must have landed in.”

The rest of them all started giggling. “You’re a total buzzkill, you know that right.” Shadow took the lead and ushered them to follow, “The castle is this way you technicolored weirdos.” They all followed him in relative silence, and everything looked clear. Well everything but the sky, the path, and the woods. Okay nothing looked clear, and that was made blatantly obvious when Shadow nearly walked head first into an angry Manticore’s paw. Luckily, Twilight pulled him back by his tail. Everyone took battle stances except Fluttershy and the somewhat stunned Shadow. He watched their failing attempts to beat a Manticore with slight amusement. From behind him, he heard the soft squeak of Fluttershy’s voice telling everyone to wait, so Shadow did. He sat down and made himself comfortable until Fluttershy finally got them to listen.

She walked right up to the Manticore and began speaking with it. He roared and hissed, but with Fluttershy’s soothing voice slowly dissolving its anger, the Manticore revealed its paw. From it, stuck a massive thorn, and she just pulled it out. She didn’t even think about it, just yoink, gone. The creature let out a thunderous roar, but instead of ripping her face off, it happily licked her. “Huh, I thought for sure she was about to be the first casualty.” Even the Manticore looked at him in shock, “Oh don’t give me that look. Besides, she just proved she’s got more spine than the rest of you combined.” With that comment, the shocked, open mouths slowly turned to grins and giggles.

Shadow waited for the laughs to stop before encouraging the group to continue. “Okay, we’re back on track… again, this time let's not let anything in our way stop us.” As they continued on the trail, the forest grew darker, and the trees were packed more tightly, “Okay, I am ninety percent sure we’re headed the right way.” Suddenly monstrous faces appeared on all the surrounding trees. “Oh sweet, they have faces.” Shadow thought this was somewhat amusing, but five Ponies behind him disagreed. Their screams were only drowned out by a somewhat uplifting laugh. Shadow was studying one of the faces closely, and trying to ignore the Ponies behind him, but all the sounds of the forest were drowned out by incredibly loud singing. He turned to them annoyed, “Really, really! You’re just gonna start singing now, huh? Oh, yeah, no need to save Equestria or anything.” Shadow couldn’t tell if they were ignoring him or just couldn’t hear him over their own singing, so he gave up yelling at them. As he followed Pinkie and the gang, he let out fake laughs every now and then, mocking their whole song and dance routine. The singing finally stopped when the trees were thinning and the sky was clearing. The group fell on the ground laughing, so Shadow took the lead once again, “Okay, if you ladies are gonna make a habit out of spontaneous singing and dancing, warn me.” The group just continued laughing, but eventually got up to follow Shadow.

Shadow heard them talking amongst themselves, so he looked up to the sky and began thinking to himself. Why did he care? Why is he helping them? He really shouldn’t care about them. The only thing he should be focusing on is his mission. The reason he was here, not saving this worthless kingdom. Shadow was too lost in thought to pay any attention to where he was headed, and nearly fell head first into the raging river. This time, Rainbow Dash was the one who saved him, “And if you’re gonna make a habit out of us needing to save you, warn us.” Again, Shadow stood there straight faced while the rest giggled with glee.

“Is no one gonna pay attention to the river that we can’t cross? See that over there?!” He yelled as he pointed to the other side, “That’s where we need to be!”

They all looked toward the river, contemplating how to cross it, when the Ponies started walking up the river a bit. All Shadow could hear was the rushing water, but he could tell they heard something else. When he finally got up next to them, he saw a massive, crying, well-groomed, purple serpent. He wailed in what Shadow assumed was horrible pain, “What a world, what a world!”

Twilight was the first to speak with the serpent, “Excuse me sir, why are you crying?”

As the serpent spoke, his hands never seemed to stop moving, acting out what had happened, “Well I don’t know. I was just sitting here, minding my own business, when this tacky little cloud of purple smoke whisked past me and tore half of my beloved mustache clean off, and now I look simply horrid!” he began to cry again as he finished speaking. Apparently, Shadow was the only one smart enough to move out of the way of the waterfall of serpent tears.

Rainbow Dash stepped forward, “Oh gimme a break.”

Next to step up was Applejack, “That’s what all this fuss is about?” Shadow didn’t even have to look; he already knew who would pipe in next.

“Why of course it is!” She raised her nose to the air and walked toward the serpent, “How can you be so insensitive? Oh, just look at him, such lovely luminescent scales.”

She began petting his chin as he whined out, “I know.”

She looked up to his hair, “Your expertly coiffed mane.”

With that he rose, “Oh, I know, I know,” pushing his hand through his hair.

She turned her head, “Your fabulous manicure.”

He was eating this up, “It’s so true.”

He looked almost happy again, until Rarity ruined it, “All ruined without your beautiful mustache.”

He threw his arms around his head and wailed out, “It’s true I'm hideous.” Shadow rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself, “Maybe we should just put him out his misery.” A purple elbow poked his left wing. Shadow turned to see if she noticed them, but she didn’t let on that she did. Still he still kept a cautious eye on her for a few more moments.

Rarity wore a determined look on her face as she spoke, “I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected.” Finishing her statement, Rarity jumped forward and ripped a scale clean off the serpent.

He threw his hands into the air, “OW! What did you do that for?”

She raised the scale to the air, and paused long enough for Twilight to start a question, “Rarity what are you?” and with one mighty swing, chopped almost her entire tail clean off. The serpent gasped and fell to the ground while the rest of the gang, minus Shadow, looked on in shock. She tossed the scale and levitated the detached tail to the serpent’s face, fusing it with the remnants of his mustache.

The serpent shot up with glee and giggled, “My mustache, how wonderful!”

Rarity smiled, “You look smashing.”

Twilight walked up to her with a concerned face, “Oh Rarity, your beautiful tail.”

The rest of the gang walked closer to her, “It’s fine my dear, short tails are in this season. Besides,” her gaze fell to her tail in sorrow, “It’ll grow back.”

Shadow walked past them and stood in front of the now calm river, “Come on ladies, quit lollygagging. We’re burning…” he looked to the sky again, “Moonlight. Yeah, we’re burning moonlight.”

The water in the stream began to ripple, “Allow me.” The serpent raised a path across the water with his own body, and the smiling Ponies hopped across his back with Shadow.

They had been walking for a few more minutes when Shadow let out a heavy sigh, “I swear, if we keep getting side tracked like this.” With that he shook his head then looked up to the sky.

Pinkie popped up next to him, “You swear what?” Shadow turned to stare coldly at her, but she kept smiling and waiting for a response.

Finally, Shadow rolled his eyes, “It’s an expression. Haven’t you ever heard it before?” Pinkie shook her head no but kept smiling and bouncing. Shadow thought back to how each of them kept getting sidetracked, especially her. He faced forward and angrily shouted, “Imsubyfuid!”

All the Ponies looked confused except for Twilight who shouted back at him, “Hey! We didn’t ask you to be here! So far you haven’t even been much help, so stop acting like a complete jerk.”

Shadow stopped dead in his tracks and turned to her wide eyed, “You speak Drakonian?”

Twilight got right into Shadow’s face, “Yes I do! I learned it because the princess asked me to check on you, and I thought ‘Huh, maybe he’d like to speak his own language’, but so far the only thing you like doing isbeacoas!”

Shadow was even more shocked, she really did know Drakonian. Everyone was shocked at Twilight’s outburst, especially Shadow. She seemed so…. meek until now. The forest was now awkwardly silent. The group stood around in the awkward silence for a few minutes, not knowing what to say. Twilight was upset for a moment, but looked more sorry than anything else now. Finally, Shadow turned and began walking again, “We can either bicker or get moving. I don’t know about all of you, but I plan on becoming a hero of Equestria. They will sing songs of me here that will go perfectly with the ones about me in Drakonia.” He didn’t actually plan on anything like that, but it was better than awkward silence. Although all still silent, they followed Shadow. For the first time it was quiet. Pinkie’s springy jumping had stopped and the whole world seemed as if it was on mute. It was odd; for the first time in a very long time, Shadow hated the silence.

He needed something to break it, any noise would do. So he began humming an old lullaby, ‘Mockingbird’. He saw the road went on straight for a while, so he closed his eyes and hummed louder. After the first few verses, another hum came from behind, then another, and another. Soon they were all humming the same song, even though Shadow, and maybe Twilight, was probably the only one who knew the actual lullaby. When Shadow opened his eyes, Twilight spoke to him, “Why don’t you ever pay attention to where you’re going?”

Shadow opened his eyes and realized she was right next to him, “Simple really. I’m not afraid to fall.”

Twilight looked a little confused, “But you’ve already nearly killed yourself twice.”

Shadow turned his head to face her, “And all of you keep catching me, so why should I be afraid?”

Twilight was just ahead of Shadow be a nose length before she stopped. Shadow stopped as well, and took a single step back. Her breathing got heavy, and she jumped back. Shadow followed suit, but was curious about what had happened. One by one, the Ponies in front of him became too engulfed by what Shadow assumed was fear to move forward. Shadow only the one in front seemed affected by it, so he stood his ground, preparing for what came next. Finally, after even Rainbow dash fell victim to it, it was Shadow’s turn. The Ponies beside him had vanished and in front of him was no longer the Everfree Forest, but the Drakonian Forest of the Damned. He took one deep breath, “I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I need you to follow me. Okay?” there was silence again, the silence he now hated. He remembered his time in the forest all those years ago. The memories were forced into his mind; the enslavement, the death, and all that he had done in his grief. The most vivid in his head was the murder of his father before his very eyes. It was so strong he had to focus most of his energy on just seeing past it. He stumbled on roots and faces fused into the blood stained soil.

He continued to walk forward, never hesitating, never wanting to turn back. All Shadow focused on, was moving forward. Finally, he thought his nightmare was almost over. The trees began thinning, and the forest he feared so much disappeared behind. Then he gazed upon the one thing he thought he feared most in the world, his home, Drakonia, burning. His eyes began watering, but he continued on without letting a single tear escape. He could smell the smoke from the buildings from what seemed like miles away, and when he got closer that smell was replaced by the pungent, disgusting scent of burning flesh. He stopped at the gates of his once beautiful city. He tried to believe none of this was real, but whatever it was, it was to strong for him. In his mind, he had failed, and everyone he once protected, were now dead. He allowed a single tear to escape his eyes before continuing on with a new goal, revenge. He walked through his beloved city, all of it in ruins. He wanted desperately to turn back, and run away from everything, but he wouldn’t allow himself to do it. This was his city, they were his people, he inhaled the horrendous smoke, and all his fear was replaced with bloodlust.

He did not see the bodies from which the smell came from, but he knew he was getting closer. He turned a street corner and saw corpses lining the streets. He couldn’t tell if he knew them or not. This was the Marble Square, the most beautiful section of his city. He once called this place home, but now it was all in decay. Again, a single tear fell from his face. The bodies became more abundant as he walked but it wasn’t until he got to the castle in the center of the city. He gazed upon the massive golden doors to the Spiral Keep, and couldn’t force back any more tears. All of those he had loved, his caring mother, encouraging father, adventurous brother and sister, beautiful wife, and loving daughter, were nailed to the castle walls. Their bodies were burned and mutilated. The tears were streaming now, but he moved ever forward. He stopped before the door and looked up, “I wish you were all still here. Well two of you are, but you’ve changed. I hope one day we’ll all meet in the Eternal’s embrace and become a true family once more.” He pushed the golden doors open expecting freedom, but then faced his final test. As the doors opened the memories of the Ponies he had been traveling with returned. He looked past the open doors and saw all of them once more, but not in the way he had ever wished. He saw them hanging from a tree, their entrails spilling from massive gashes in their midsection.

Of all the things he had seen, this one was the one that made him collapse and burst into tears. It was a silent crying, the one’s you have when you truly can’t stop. For a moment all his will faded away, “Why does this hurt so much? I barely know these lunatics.” Then a strange notion popped into his head. “Why am I stopping?” He remembered all of their smiles; he remembered their goal, their mission. He stood up and for a reason that escaped Shadow, he began smiling. He stared at the bodies on the tree, “Don’t worry girls, I remember what this place is now. It’s nothing more than a silly little nightmare.” The tree from which the Ponies hung stood up too, “Oh, look a tree monster, How dreadfully terrifying.” He roared with laughter and suddenly charged the creature. The creature must not have been expecting this because it took a step back instead of defending itself. Shadow leapt into the air and spun his body sideways, using his tail as a club. He slammed his tail into the creature’s side with all the force he could muster. The tree never stood a chance, and wooden shrapnel exploded everywhere. He raised his hand and grabbed the large chunk, “Touchdown!” he threw the shard into the ground, and slid into the dirt like it was butter.

The bodies that had been thrown away from the exploding tree quickly stood up, rotting flesh and maggots dropping from their face, “And now Zombies? Oh dear Eternal it’s like Christmas.” He watched them approach him, and waited until they were all a step away. With a lightning fast whisk of his tail, they all dropped. He sang soulfully, “Decapitation!” He saw the city and bodies dissolve into purple smoke. With all that out of the way, he walked past the hole in the ground where tree once stood, and found a single oak door. When he grabbed the handle, he was back, and so was his blank expression. He could feel his face was dry, so he happily addressed his companions, “Well that was easy. I guess I’m the only one brave enough to do anything for his.”

He paused for a second, not wanting to make any assumptions, but Pinkie jumped with glee yelling, “Friends!”

Shadow didn’t express it, but he felt joy. He didn’t want to; he wanted to continue hating every Equestrian, but these ones were different somehow. Then Shadow heard an unfamiliar voice, “So what was that back there?” He turned his head towards the quiet noise to see Fluttershy.

Shadow shrugged, “It was some kind of nightmare making spell. Also, I'm not sure, but if I had to guess I’d say these are all traps made by Nightmare Moon to stop us from reaching the Elements of Harmony. All these things happening back to back are just her style. Weaken the enemy, and then finish the job personally. Luckily I have all these handy meat shields to keep me in top shape if that happens.”

Rainbow hovered above Shadow, and gave him a suspecting glare, “You sound like you know her, do you?”

Shadow looked up at her then back at the road, “It’s a long story; in a way, yes, but at the same time, no.” Rainbow Dash landed behind Shadow and rejoined the group, but none of them questioned his answer. It was a little weird for Shadow, so he tried to entice them to ask something, “I knew her when I first came to Equestria as a child. She was…. different back then. She’s just one of the reasons I'm not a fan of Celestia.” Yet again, no one questioned his answer.

Instead, Twilight shouted out, “There it is! The ruins that hold the Elements of Harmony, we made it!”

She ran ahead of the others and Applejack hollered, “Twilight, wait for us!” They all began racing toward the castle, and following Shadow’s previous examples, Twilight nearly fell off the edge of another cliff. Luckily, Shadow grabbed her tail and dragged her backwards.

He held a serious look, “Weren’t you talking smack earlier about how I don’t pay attention to where I'm going?” he heard a few laughs from behind him which again made him happy. He still refused to smile though.

They all looked at the busted bridge which was the only way across the cliff, and Pinkie screeched, “Now what?!”

Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings at Pinkie before taking off to get the bridge back up with a cocky, “Duh.”

A few moments passed, but the bridge wasn’t fully up, “Rainbow, what’s taking so long?” Suddenly Twilight's face grew worried as she looked across the gap, “Oh no, Rainbow...” Shadow tried following her gaze, but the forest’s natural fog suddenly thickened, “Don’t listen to them!” A few moments passed, and then suddenly Rainbow Dash swooped over the fixed bridge, clearing away the fog.

Everyone cheered and as they crossed the bridge he heard Rainbow say, “See, I’d never leave my friends hangin.” Shadow shuddered at the word hanging, but when white hoof held his shoulder for a few seconds, the painful memory of what he had seen dissolved. Once her hoof was off his shoulder, they set off for the castle t.

It wasn’t long before they stood before the ruined castle. They took a moment to look at the ruins, when Shadow let out a heavy sigh, “I really hope we don’t have to fight Nightmare Moon.”

Rainbow flew next to Shadow, “Why? You scared of a Pony?” Rainbow Dash smiled and poked Shadow with her elbow.

Shadow’s face grew cold and angry, “No. I'm afraid if we do, there’ll be nothing left of her when I'm finished.” He walked past the now concerned Rainbow Dash, and opened its half intact doors.

Rarity looked around the interior of the ruins, “This place is so big; it’ll take us forever to.”

Shadow cut off Rarity there, “This is the main entryway. The Elements will be in the Armory to the far left.” By now, the group knew not to look shocked. They had come to terms with the fact that Shadow had some sort of connection with Celestia and Nightmare moon, and even though he said terrible things, he probably cared about them. Shadow took the lead, as usual, and by now his suit was torn enough to notice two things: a half-covered, red, mark on his hindquarters, and some kind of ropes on his sides.

Twilight walked closer to Shadow to get a better view of the red mark, “Shadow! Are you hurt?”

Twilight was studying the red mark closely before a tail whipped in front of her face, covering it, “I’m fine.”

Twilight walked to his other side, “Are you sure? It looks like a cut.”

Again his tail moved to cover his mark, “Firstly, my blood is black, not red. Secondly, it’s a Destiny Mark, please stop staring at it.”

Twilight switched sides again, “Destiny Mark? My books didn’t mention anything about those.”

Shadow turned to meet her eye to eye, “Not all Drakonians have them. They are a very sacred mark. Those like me who have them wear clothes constantly to hide them because the only ones who are supposed to see them,” he moved his face closer to hers, “Are the ones we…” their faces were nearly touching now. Twilight started to lightly blush, but Shadow held his naturally expressionless form, “…allow to see them.” With that, he whipped his tail around, flicking Twilight in the forehead.

Twilight began rubbing her forehead, “Ow! What was that for?”

Shadow turned around to continue walking, “I asked you not to stare. Besides you could have moved your head back anytime.”

He heard several giggles behind him, but paid no attention to them this time. Next to speak was Rainbow dash, “Okay, so what are those ropes on your sides?”

Without looking back he started leading them through the winding corridors of the castle to the armory, “It’s an undergarment in case my over wear is destroyed. You see, a Drakonian is never to be naked unless they are alone or mating.” Shadow felt proud of his answer; after all, he wasn’t lying completely. He stopped in front of two doors and pulled Rainbow Dash to the side, “Let the ladies go first, Blue.” Rainbow Dash punched Shadow in the shoulder as Twilight and the rest entered the room.

Finally, he let Rainbow Dash go, and with a smirk she waved her hands for him to enter, “Well Shadow, ladies first.”

Shadow held his head high and entered, “What a gentleman you are. Thank you.”

“There they are, The Elements of Harmony!” Twilight shouted with glee. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash grabbed them and set them down in front of Twilight.

“Not to sound pessimistic or anything, but there’s supposed to be seven. I count six,” Shadow stated with a straight face.

Twilight looked to the rocks with glee, “My book said when the six Elements are united…” She paused, and gave Shadow a confused look, “Wait. How do you know about them?”

Shadow turned and evaded the question, “We should give her some space to work her magic. I’ll be just outside.”

Applejack followed and ushered the rest to follow, “He's right y’all. Let’s wait right outside.”

When the rest of the gang caught up to Shadow, Pinkie finished asking Twilight’s question, “How is it you know all of these things? The location of the ruins, the number of Elements, the trail here, and how do you know Nightmare Moon and Celestia?”

Luckily, Shadow didn’t have to answer because of the flash of light coming from the Armory. “Well, we should check that,” Shadow yelled back as he ran to see what had happened. When he and the gang got there though, the room was empty. The gang looked around, but Shadow sprinted out shouting back, “Left tower, NOW!” the group followed as best they could, but only Rainbow Dash and Applejack could keep up.

As they ran up the stairs to the tower they heard villainous laughter. The next thing Shadow heard was Applejack’s concerned yell, “Don’t worry Twilight, we’re coming!” Shadow knew Applejack was worried now, so he ran as fast as he could. He was the first to enter the room, and see the sudden realization in Twilight’s eyes.

Twilight turned to face Nightmare Moon, “You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well you're wrong!” Nightmare Moon looked confused and slightly worried, “Because the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here!” Shadow and the group stood behind Twilight, ready to fight.

Shattered crystals from around Nightmare Moon’s hooves began glowing and levitating. Nightmare Moon looked to them with fear, “What?!”

Twilight looked to each of her companions as she spoke, “Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of, Honesty,” as Twilight finished which Element each of her companions possessed, the shards of the broken Elements began circling their necks, “ Fluttershy, who tamed the Manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of, Kindness. Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of, Laughter. Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of, Generosity. Shadow, who walked through hell and back never running from the fight, represents the spirit of, Bravery. And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart’s desire, represents the spirit of, Loyalty. The spirits of these six heroes got us through every challenge you threw at us.”

Nightmare Moon looked extremely worried now, “You still don’t have the seventh Element. The spark didn’t work!”

Twilight looked at Nightmare Moon triumphantly, “But it did. A different kind of spark,” She turned to the group, “I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all,” she turned to face Nightmare Moon once more, “are my friends!” With a flash of light, the seventh Element, still encased in stone, appeared above Twilight, with beams of magical light shooting from it. “You see Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the, the spark that resides in the heart of us all; it creates the seventh Element, the Element of, Magic,” With that she raised her head, and the room filled with blinding light. The fragments of the broken Elements fused together to form a crown above Twilight, and amulets for the rest of the group, each one in the main shape of their Cutie mark. Shadow quickly covered his with his hands.

A double helix of mesmerizing color shot from the elements and formed a beam heading towards Nightmare Moon. All she could scream as she was enveloped in the ray was a long, scared, “No!” The room was again filled with a blinding light and as it slowly dissipated Shadow left the ruins, his Element on the floor, wrapped in the tattered remains of his suit. He knew Celestia would show up when the battle was over, and he didn’t want to be there when she did. He made it to the thick forest just before the sun rose above the mountains. He stayed behind a tree eavesdropping on the conversation. He nearly returned when he heard the mention of Luna, but knew if he did he would be forced to converse with Celestia. He heard Celestia asking them to keep his Element covered since that’s what he would want, and began walking home, alone.

When he made it home Tidy was waiting for him on the other side of the drawbridge. “I take it there were some mishaps at the party,” He asked the now nearly naked Shadow. Shadow strolled by him as he raised the bridge with the twitch of his mustache, and headed for his room. Once there he tore off his wing bindings and stretched his wings, “Dear Eternal that feels great.” He glanced at the mirror and saw his Destiny Mark. A pair of spread, tribal-style, wings with an infinity symbol between them, and a crown above. He grabbed his bindings with his tail, and threw them at the mirror with enough force to shatter it and crack the wall behind it.

He pulled a black hoodie from off his floor and put it on, shouting to Tidy, “Have you made breakfast yet?!” Tidy opened the door with a steaming plate of scrambled eggs. He waded through the disastrous room, and set them on Shadow’s dresser. As he left he noticed the broken mirror, but said nothing. He knew why Shadow had shattered it.

A few moments after Shadow had finished his eggs there was a knock on the door. Shadow listened to the voices, “Yes, Master Shadow is home. If you would like to wait for a few moments in the foyer, I shall retrieve him.”

Pinkie’s voice cheerily shot back, “Okie Dokie Lokie.”

Shadow began heading downstairs, and met Tidy halfway. Tidy knew what Shadow had done, “You shouldn’t eavesdrop sir. What if that had been my lover and we were discussing ‘sensitive’ information?” Shadow did not respond; instead, he climbed atop the stair rail and slid down into the entryway.

He walked to the visitor waiting room to see Pinkie “oooooo” ing and “ahhhhhh” ing at his decorations. The second Pinkie saw him she began her friendly interview, “What’s this? Where did you get that? What are these, and these, and these, and wow, this house is biiiig! It’s like a castle! How did you afford this? Are you like super rich, or something? Who was that super nice butler looking dude? Why are you in a hoodie? How do I know what a hoodie is? We don’t have those in Equestria. Well we do know since you're in Equestria and you have them. How did no one know about this place? How did I know about this place? ”

Shadow cut her off so they could get to talking, “Hello again Pinkie, what brings you to my smallest home?”

Pinkie’s jaw dropped with that statement, “How rich are you?!”

Shadow evaded her newest question, “How can I help you?”

Pinkie looked a little angry that he kept dodging her every question, “Well for starters, you could answer my questions, but I came to ask if you wanted to partay in Ponyville. Everypony will be there, even the Princess!”

Shadow grimaced when he heard the Princess would be there, “I’m sorry Pinkie, but I’ll have to pass on today, maybe tomorrow?” Pinkie looked slightly sad when he said he couldn’t attend the party, but perked right back up when he said he could tomorrow.

“Alright! Sugarcube Corner, tomorrow, high noon, be there or be a square.” Pinkie tried acting intimidating in her usual goofy way. Shadow resisted smiling, but let out a slight grin, and chuckled. She spent the next few minutes laughing before dashing away so she wouldn’t miss the party.

Tidy walked next to Shadow and turned to face him, “Sir? Was that one of your friends?”

Shadow allowed himself to fully smile as he looked toward the door, “Yeah. I suppose she is.”

Tidy watched Shadow walk away, and when he was alone he let out a sigh, “I sure hope so, my dear boy. Maybe they can make you like you where. If not, I fear this may just be the beginning of the end."